Nine Real Digital Product Passport Implementations and Pilots: What the Evidence Shows

Read case studies without confusing deployment and proof

DPP case studies vary in maturity: some are production systems on commercial products, others are technical demonstrators or funded pilots. A working passport proves information can be assembled and accessed; it does not prove more recycling, lower emissions or profitable resale.

Below, implemented functionality is separated from measured outcomes. Where sources state objectives without quantified results, benefits are labelled expected. CIRPASS-2 runs thirteen pilots across textiles, electronics, tyres and construction, with cross-pilot interoperability among its goals. 1

1. Volvo Cars and Circulor — production battery passports

Volvo and Circulor introduced a battery passport for the EX90 electric SUV covering raw-material origins, components, recycled content and embedded carbon, accessible via the Volvo Cars app and a QR code on the vehicle. 2 3

Result: a commercial deployment with consumer-accessible battery information. Limitation: no source shows a measured lifecycle-emission reduction caused by the passport. "World's first" is the company's claim.

2. Battery Pass — an interoperable demonstrator

The German-funded consortium of eleven organisations released technical guidance and a software demonstrator in March 2024, making distributed data, identifiers, access and interoperability tangible. 4

Result: guidance and demonstrator software, presented again at the February 2025 closing event. Limitation: not a regulatory approval or production-readiness certificate. 5

3. IOXIO — circular workwear

IOXIO leads CIRPASS-2's circular workwear pilot, targeting reuse, repair, remanufacture and recycling as garments move between users, laundries and repairers. 6

Expected: longer garment life and better recycling — no verified percentages yet. Lesson: attach the passport to a repeatable operational decision, not just the first sale.

4. Kezzler — connected garments and footwear

Kezzler's pilot covers item-level connected-product management for garments and footwear, combining circular business models with DPP implementation.

Expected: resale and engagement gains. Lesson: regulatory and commercial functions can share identity infrastructure — but legally required information should never depend on joining a loyalty programme.

5. EON — scaling circular systems in fashion

EON's pilot with a Top-20 global apparel brand focuses on resale, repair and recycling, including downstream events flowing back into item records.

Expected: more circular transactions. Lesson: can downstream businesses retrieve and interpret data without adopting the brand's whole tech stack?

6. Avery Dennison atma.io and circular.fashion — Textile Loop

The Textile Loop pilot targets sorting and repair/upcycling — information must arrive where sorting decisions happen.

Expected: better sorting accuracy and recovery. Useful metrics: carrier survival, scan time, completeness of material data, share of items routed to higher-value outcomes.

7. TripleR.io — MattressID

MattressID addresses mattress refurbishment and recycling.

Expected: higher refurbishment and recycling. Lesson: separate static manufacturer data from condition assessment at collection — a passport can't remotely judge hygiene or damage.

8. Scantrust — DPP feasibility for textile SMEs

Scantrust's pilot aims to show textile SMEs can issue passports affordably and improve circular economics.

Expected: positive economics. Measure onboarding time, data-cleaning effort, recurring admin and provider dependence — not just carrier price.

9. Arçelik/Beko — preventing incorrect vacuum-cleaner repairs

Arçelik's pilot uses DPP traceability to prevent incorrect repairs of cordless vacuum cleaners, reducing e-waste.

Expected: less e-waste. Track first-time repair success, wrong-part orders, repeat visits and products returned to use.

What these cases collectively establish

Evidence category	Examples	Reasonable conclusion
Commercial implementation	Volvo / Circulor	Product-linked information can reach customers in production
Technical demonstrator	Battery Pass	Architecture and interoperability approaches can be implemented
Operational pilots	Seven CIRPASS-2 cases	Defined circular workflows are being tested
Quantified environmental impact	Not yet established	Further measurement is needed

The common lesson: choose a decision to improve, identify the data that decision needs, and measure the result. Passport issuance counts alone are a weak proxy for circularity.

Sources

Last reviewed 2 November 2026. Guidance only — not legal advice. View as Markdown